All eyes should be on Cowboys’ finale

Most fans start at the start when looking at their club’s schedule for the first time, but Cowboys fans would be wise to start at the end when the NFL releases the schedule at 7 Thursday night.

For the past two seasons, Dallas’ season came down to playoffs-or-bust season finales. The Cowboys lost to the Giants in 2011 and the Redskins in 2012, extending their playoff drought to three seasons.

If recent history holds true, Dallas will face another NFC East foe in the season finale in 2013. The last time the Cowboys ended the season playing a non-NFC East foe was in 2006, when they lost 39-31 to Detroit at Texas Stadium. Since then, Dallas has finished the season against the Eagles three times, the Redskins twice and the Giants once. The Cowboys were 2-4 in those games.

At this point, the Cowboys don’t appear to be much better than the 8-8 team they fielded last year, so the regular season finale probably will be crucial again this season.